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Digital Eye Strain Information

When we use a computer or phone for a long period of time, many of us experience digital eye strain. There are several reasons why this occurs including: posture, long periods of sustained focus, back-lit screens, improper glasses, eye muscle imbalance (see Digital Device Dilemma below). The fact that we blink significantly less when our attention is focused on a screen also significantly contributes to eye irritation, blurry vision and fatigue.

If you suffer from digital eye strain, one of the most impactful things that you can do is use a rewetting eye drop (such as Thealoz®) at least twice a day and see your Optometrist.

We awake to the glow of a phone acting as an alarm clock. We work for hours on our computer screens, perhaps stopping to look at something on another screen—a television, a tablet, a smartphone. The pattern is repeated again and again as our days are filled with electronic images of news reports, online shopping, video games, movies, emails and texts….

This constant exposure to technology is a shock to our eyes. For centuries, we have evolved our sight by viewing a wide variety of objects outside from varying distances. A combination of factors including the proximity at which we view digital screens, the frequency and length of time of this use, physical responses to screen habits, and exposure to high-energy visible (HEV) or blue light, have conspired to cause visual discomfort in 65 percent of Americans. 1 This stress and strain, combined with other physical discomforts, is called digital eye strain. READ MORE